[Davetolbooth]

awake_eagle, on 27 February 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

LOL, my thoughts exactly... and most of them end up back in the UK within a year or two since they weren't able to adapt to a foreign country.

Better to have tried and failed than to die with regrets.

[Davetolbooth]

awake_eagle, on 27 February 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

Do you have a trust fund? Spain has 20% unemployment, forget about earning an income there.

Yes - I will be buying with cash and have income without the need to work.



But - I'm still full of admiration for others who have a go and succeed or not. Having a go is the important bit.

[Trampa501]

awake_eagle, on 27 February 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

Do you have a trust fund? Spain has 20% unemployment, forget about earning an income there.

On the contrary, Madrid is a very good place to earn money as a TEFL teacher (it may be more difficult admittedly on the coast where holidaymakers go)

AViewOfMadrid

Quote

I was attending a meeting with other teachers recently. All of them were reporting, like me, if they wanted it, an increase in workload. We may well be in a recession, but language teaching seems to be hardly affected. It's not just English. French and German are also, it seems, needed by Spanish businessmen and women. Not all companies have been affected by the crisis. They might not be enjoying the boom times of recent years, and this is probably, and not too late, making them reflect on their marketing strategies. The companies I teach at are telling me something very interesting: it is not a priority for their employees to pass an exam in English. They want their employees to close the deal, sell, get the contract signed, advertise and network – and whether this is done grammatically or not is not important, so long as communication is established.

I was there a couple of months back, and all the expats I knew from a few years back, were busy and doing quite well thank you (teachers, web designers, bar owners, businesspeople). Don't believe all you read in the DM.
If you're a decent web developer there are plenty of Spanish startup companies that are hiring too.

[kazap]

Good luck to anyone heading out to broaden their horizons. But life is tough where ever you live and I suspect that the people who successfully emigrate aren't the kind of people who struggle to get themselves going here in the UK. I think some are just born to see the worst of life, no matter where they live.

As someone who is married to a multi linguist (English, Spanish, Italian, French and, don't laugh, Welsh) I'm glad that my son is being brought up bi-lingual (not Welsh !). However I see plenty of opportunities here.

It's a shame OP didn't elaborate further on why he felt things were broken, so it's hard to comment.

But as a recent new parent I found the service provided by the NHS fantastic. I recently had a problem myself, got seen by a world leading specialist and had access to state of the art tests that are only available to a handful of developed countries. That's not so bad is it? Sure, the papers pick up on the failures but we are all bright enough to know that any organisation that size is not going to be perfect. Google up any transparent national healthcare service and you'll find scandals.

I'm from a family of teachers (im not one) and could rant about education but I feel it would be pointless, suffice to say that whilst improvements can always be made the system isn't broken. Anyone who can be bothered to look will see hard working teachers and kids, but it seems this site is slowly being overrun by daily mail readers. God help us all!

Politics is broken. Well, fair point. I'm pretty disillusioned. But I'm curious to know who's government inspires you? Name a country and I'll find you someone who will rant endlessly about their governments failings.


The UK isn't the worst place in the world, and actually we are among the richest people in the planet - scary huh?

[24gray24]

kazap, on 27 February 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

actually we are among the richest people in the planet - scary huh?

Would that measuring system count the polynesians, catching fish for dinner and eating it with coconut, as very poor?

Or the eskimo, living like his ancestors, except with the security of some modern technology, hunting and fishing?

IMO there's something fishy about telling people they're rich, when the daily experience of a trip to the petrol station or supermarket tells them they can hardly afford to pay their bills AND they're spending all their time doing unpleasant things in order to pay those cartels.

At some point, it's more rational to say: "actually, I'm poor. I'm working for nothing."

[Mrs Bear]

Bloo Loo, on 27 February 2012 - 09:36 AM, said:

Oh I get it...TEFL is a private company advertising ELT (English Language Teachers) people.

they say:" Nowadays, it is absolutely essential to have received formal training prior to embarking on your career around the world".

Essential for whom?

You dont need a TEFL to teach English.

No, you don't, but if you don't speak the other person's language it is very helpful in, among other things, showing you how to put concepts across.

I found my course absolutely invaluable in teaching mostly speakers of Arabic. Watching experienced teachers was incredibly helpful.

I'm not saying I couldn't have done it otherwise, since I had studied several languages and had absolutely no problem with grammar etc.
But a TEFL course helps you to understand the problems a learner will have.
You yourself have never had to learn your mother tongue the way foreign learners have to. You have picked up very complicated constructions without even thinking about them,
It's not at all the same as e.g. teaching French or German to other native speakers of English.

[Democorruptcy]

kazap, on 27 February 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

The UK isn't the worst place in the world, and actually we are among the richest people in the planet - scary huh?

You don't get it do you?

We are printing money to fund a £130bn a year deficit. Getting that deficit to zero is now going to take at least 7 years instead of 5 because like Labour the coalition have started printing money. That enables more government spending so pushes a zero deficit further into the distance. That means another 7 years of adding to our debt. By the time If we get the deficit to zero our debt to GDP will be over 100%. Then we have to pay the debt down.

This means are living standards are going down in a big way because we are not rich at all. We have been living beyond our means.
Our interest rates are only low because we are suppressing them by printing money to buy our own debt. QE cannot go on forever.

Living in the UK means a life of get less, pay more and work more.

[madpenguin]

Davetolbooth, on 27 February 2012 - 10:30 AM, said:

This has to be one of the most sensible posts ever -excellent advice.


Get learning a foreign language and get the ****** out of this place.



I'm off to Spain - taught myself Spanish - and gonna’ chill out in the warmsun, not read any papers and drink until dead.

(The alternative of dribbling in an old folks home and being bullied by lowpaid ‘don’t give a shite’ can’t speak English care workers, just ain’t gonnahappen)

This country has been degraded beyond belief since WW2.

This post brought to mind the "Billy" sketch from Victoria Wood's show in 1986, starring the great Hugh Lloyd, although humorous the real life situation hasn't changed from this much for old people has it?



Agree 100% about learning a language and getting out of the UK, I've lived in Germany and now Holland, and yes both have been immeasurably better than the UK, no rip off banks and utilities, high tax but you get stuff back for it, far better kept and safer environment for a start, and affordable and frequent public transport

This post has been edited by madpenguin: 27 February 2012 - 08:51 PM

[Deckard]

p.p., on 27 February 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

you forgot about moaners

[Chuffy Chuffnell]

If you find the UK bad you're going to find 95% of the planet really f*cking awful.

Seriously, there's not many countries better than the UK. Obviously Norway, Switzerland and the like.

Living in hell-holes like Brazil is totally different than going on holiday there.

[Vagabond]

Chuffy Chuffnell, on 27 February 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

If you find the UK bad you're going to find 95% of the planet really f*cking awful.

Seriously, there's not many countries better than the UK. Obviously Norway, Switzerland and the like.

Living in hell-holes like Brazil is totally different than going on holiday there.

Depends what you measure for quality of life. Most countries aren't as technologically advanced as the UK, don't have the relative wealth (!) or infrastructure but most of the countries I've been to have much friendlier people and seem far happier as a result.

The people in the UK are, in general, far too greedy and entitled for their own good.

To the OP. Leave. Its that simple. The worst thing that happens is you gain some perspective on exactly how reletively bad your life in the UK actually is.

[macca]

Vagabond, on 28 February 2012 - 12:41 AM, said:

Depends what you measure for quality of life. Most countries aren't as technologically advanced as the UK, don't have the relative wealth (!) or infrastructure but most of the countries I've been to have much friendlier people and seem far happier as a result.

The people in the UK are, in general, far too greedy and entitled for their own good.

To the OP. Leave. Its that simple. The worst thing that happens is you gain some perspective on exactly how reletively bad your life in the UK actually is.

But if you are very wealthy then the UK is a no doubt a wonderful place to be. You tell your chauffeur all the places you want to avoid seeing.

[Austin Allegro]

FaFa!, on 27 February 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

Oh I see. You mean you don't understand how I could explain the present perfect to a Chinese person without speaking to them in Mandarin. Is that what you are getting at? There are techniques, mainly involving diagrams. It is entirely possible to teach someone English from scratch only speaking to them in English. I have done it myself. You do need to have a student with the patience of Job however and need to plan your lessons extremely well to stop them getting bored.

I'd strongly recommend your relative gets some qualifications, just out of respect for her students and a bit of peace of mind. Here are some sites to kick off with:
http://www.tefl.com/
http://www.eslcafe.com/

True, you don't need a TEFL to teach English. You're much more likely to get work if you have one though, and a higher qualification (CELTA etc) is necessary in a lot of places.

A professional appearance and speaking 'proper' BBC English is also highly valued, it seems. Understandably, a lot of foreigners struggle to understand British regional accents and some cultures don't have much respect for a teacher in flip flops with three days' beard growth.

[Mrs Bear]

Austin Allegro, on 28 February 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

True, you don't need a TEFL to teach English. You're much more likely to get work if you have one though, and a higher qualification (CELTA etc) is necessary in a lot of places.

A professional appearance and speaking 'proper' BBC English is also highly valued, it seems. Understandably, a lot of foreigners struggle to understand British regional accents and some cultures don't have much respect for a teacher in flip flops with three days' beard growth.

Not to mention a familiarity with basics, such as knowing the difference between its/it's, your/you're, etc.

Daughter working way round Oz and SE Asia on a CELTA was often mortified to see other supposedly qualified teachers being picked up on such mistakes by confused students who'd often worry first because surely the teacher would know?
She didn't like to tell them that no, they didn't know, and very likely didn't think it mattered a toss.

Edit: her good-grade CELTA enabled her to get relatively well-paid jobs fairly easily, inc. in Oz. Lots of Japanese students, just for starters.
For anyone thinking of it, there are lots of courses that might be cheaper but will basically just dish out some sort of certificate to anyone who's willing to pay.

From a jobs POV It's well worth shelling out for a good CELTA course, which will be bloody hard work, esp. the usual one-month intensive type.

This post has been edited by Mrs Bear: 29 February 2012 - 09:45 AM

[wfmk]

Mrs Bear, on 29 February 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

Not to mention a familiarity with basics, such as knowing the difference between its/it's, your/you're, etc.

Daughter working way round Oz and SE Asia on a CELTA was often mortified to see other supposedly qualified teachers being picked up on such mistakes by confused students who'd often worry first because surely the teacher would know?
She didn't like to tell them that no, they didn't know, and very likely didn't think it mattered a toss.

Edit: her good-grade CELTA enabled her to get relatively well-paid jobs fairly easily, inc. in Oz. Lots of Japanese students, just for starters.
For anyone thinking of it, there are lots of courses that might be cheaper but will basically just dish out some sort of certificate to anyone who's willing to pay.

From a jobs POV It's well worth shelling out for a good CELTA course, which will be bloody hard work, esp. the usual one-month intensive type.

I would second this. The CELTA costs around a grand for a four week course, but will pay for itself within the first couple of pay cheques. Don't bother with cheap alternatives- they're not universally recognised. Here's a ballpark idea of what a fresh CELTA teacher can earn per month in GBP after tax in various places around the world:

Spain: 1000
Greece: 800
Germany: 2000
Russia: 1600
Japan: 1500
Poland: 1000
Italy: 1000
UAE: 2000
Saudi Arabia: 2000
Thailand: 600
China: 1500

These are perhaps rather low, but are usually supplemented by free accommodation and flights. And foreign girls